Catherine the Great

by Simon Dixon

Overview

More than a conventional biography of Catherine the Great, this is a full history of her rule and use of power. Viewing Russian culture and politics through the prism of Catherine’s life and reign, Simon Dixon shows how Catherine conceived of and wielded her power, and how she represented it to her subjects. To what extent was her rule consensual and how far did it depend on force? As Simon Dixon answers these questions he sheds new light on the Enlightenment, the power of the monarch and the role of the great individual in history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781138165687
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	01/13/2017
Series:	Profiles In Power
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Simon Dixon is Sir Bernard Pares Professor of Russian History at University College London.

Table of Contents

Preface; Abbreviations; Chapter 1 The problem of power; Chapter 2 Catherine takes power; Chapter 3 Images of power; Chapter 4 The power of ideas: Catherine and the; philosophes; Chapter 5 Catherine and Russian political culture; Chapter 6 Enlightened despotism; Chapter 7 Power relationships in Russia; Chapter 8 Russia as a European great power; Chapter 9 Epilogue: power transferred and transformed;

What People are Saying About This

Catherine Merridale

“Like Catherine herself, Simon Dixon’s new biography is attractive, engaging, and very intelligent. It wears its scholarship lightly, too, but established fans of the Russian empress will find plenty of new material and those who are meeting her for the first time will be dazzled.”

Simon Sebag Montefiore

“There is lots new in this superb biography . . . [Dixon] manages to be scholarly, refreshing, commonsensical and compelling, vividly portraying the charismatic Empress and her times.”

Editorial Reviews

Like Catherine herself, Simon Dixon’s new biography is attractive, engaging, and very intelligent. It wears its scholarship lightly, too, but established fans of the Russian empress will find plenty of new material and those who are meeting her for the first time will be dazzled.” — Catherine Merridale, author of Ivan's War and Night of Stone: Death and Memory in Russia

“There is lots new in this superb biography . . . [Dixon] manages to be scholarly, refreshing, commonsensical and compelling, vividly portraying the charismatic Empress and her times.” — Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of Sashenka and Young Stalin

From the Publisher

Like Catherine herself, Simon Dixon’s new biography is attractive, engaging, and very intelligent. It wears its scholarship lightly, too, but established fans of the Russian empress will find plenty of new material and those who are meeting her for the first time will be dazzled.

Catherine Merridale

There is lots new in this superb biography . . . [Dixon] manages to be scholarly, refreshing, commonsensical and compelling, vividly portraying the charismatic Empress and her times.

Simon Sebag Montefiore